Interview: Following Release Of ‘Sundust’, The Ballroom Thieves Return to The Sinclair
With all the craziness happening in today’s world, conversations about mental health are as important as ever. They make people feel less alone while navigating life’s miasma with a sense of understanding being a vital part of it. With their latest full-length release Sundust that came out back in April, The Ballroom Thieves put this notion forth into an excellent batch of songs. With roots in the Boston area due to the musical entity initially starting out at Stonehill College in the nearby town of Easton, the duo of Callie Peters and Martin Earley are going to be coming back to said parts as part of their tour in support of the new album on June 1. That’s when they’re going to be taking the stage at The Sinclair located on 52 Church Street in Cambridge with the show starting at 8:30pm.
Peters and I had a talk ahead of the performance about the making of the new album, returning to the city where the band made their mark and planning to provide an intimate experience.
During the making of Sundust, you and Martin decided to have mental health be an underlying theme while exploring topics of dealing, breaking down the feelings that come with trauma, finding the beauty within people and, longing for connection among others. What inspired this approach when it came to the lyrics and the overall songwriting process?
We spend a lot of time talking to each other about the state of humankind and how we seem to be reaching new lows every day. We trace everything back to childhood and how harmful social norms and childhood trauma have influenced parents for generations. We believe that if we could all be supported and loved for who we are there might be a lot less pain amongst us. I personally come from an extended family that is riddled with secrets and judgmental, angry people. I found that it was important to step away from people like that while considering what sort of person I wanted to be, since our social groups tell a lot about the type of people we are.
We write what we know, and in this case, we got up close and personal with generational trauma and self-awareness in order to become happier, kinder people.
You made the album with co-producer Dan Cardinal and drummer Cody Iwasiuk at your home studio in Maine, so what was the overall experience like in that surrounding? Did that particular environment contribute to the vibe of the way the recording process came about?
The laid-back nature of the album definitely came from our unhurried home studio approach. We left ourselves a lot of time to record, knowing that there would be many days when we weren’t in the right headspace to work, or the rain was too loud in the mics. Recording drums remotely was a fun challenge, especially because we were never once face-to-face with Cody since he worked from his studio in Winnipeg, Manitoba. We spent the last four days of recording at Dan’s studio in Boston, which was hugely important in pulling the whole record together and being able to do more complicated things like sing at the same time on “Boring Disaster”, or record “Tender” live.
Sundust marks The Ballroom Thieves’ fifth original studio album and your second as a duo, what do the both of you feel this record represents when it comes to the creative state of the band and your evolution as artists?
We feel like each record we make is a chance for our music to become more streamlined. These days we tend to say things in a more direct way and worry less about getting a perfect take and instead focus more on just knowing the parts really well and letting things happen naturally. We enjoyed including flubs and mistakes in the latest songs, and we kept the vocals underproduced and real. Sundust represents us well, at least for now. We’re just two imperfect people who are trying to live the good life in all its messy glory.
It’s always good to come back home, and the upcoming show at The Sinclair is a bit of a homecoming for the both of you, so what are your thoughts ahead of this Saturday’s performance?
We always love retuning to the Sinclair and Boston will always be home. I have many memories of Boston in the summer, working at Espresso Royale on Newbury Street, running and sometimes crying along the esplanade, biking to The Otherside for beers & queers, and lots more unmentionable stuff. We’ve never played such an intimate show in Boston, so we’re excited to see what our brand-new duo show will feel like in such familiar room. The love and energy the Boston crowd brings is unmatched and we love them!
When it comes to crafting a setlist and how the new music will be portrayed on stage, how do you plan on doing so and what should folks expect?
We like to think of the studio and the live show as two totally different experiences. It gives us the freedom the make each one the best it can be without worry that we will be able to recreate it. It’s not easy to find the right songs for a two person show after playing as a quartet for so many years, so this show took a lot of rehearsal. We worked up a set of personal songs and uncomplicated, sparse arrangements to showcase our lyrics and harmonies as best we can. There will be some new songs done in duo form, lots of finger picking, cello galore, and some old fan favorites some people have been asking to hear for a while. One of those favorites was a huge challenge to duoify, but the south and Midwest liked it so we’re very curious to see what Boston thinks!
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